Vladimir Putin recently extolled the merits of a possible international financial system based on a blockchain system at a conference organized by Sberbank. According to the Russian president, such a structure would be impervious to the current monopoly of the existing financial system exercised by “a narrow club of states and financial groups.”
Vladimir Putin praises blockchain for international payments
At a recent conference organized by Sberbank, the largest credit bank in Russia, Vladimir Putin praised a hypothetical international payment system based on blockchain.
Thus, the Russian president has plebiscited an independent system based on blockchain, which would be based on the use of central bank digital currencies (CBD). Referring to the various financial sanctions imposed by the Otanesque coalition, Vladimir Putin criticized the centralization of the current financial system:
“The technology of digital currencies and blockchains can be used to create a new system of international settlements that will be much more convenient, absolutely safe for its users and, most importantly, will not depend on banks or interference from third countries. I am convinced that something like this will certainly be created and develop, because nobody likes the diktat of monopolies, which harms all parties, including the monopolies themselves.”
A wish that directly echoes an intervention last September by Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the State Duma committee on the financial market, who said last September that the ongoing conflict had forced Moscow to develop parallel financial solutions to cope with international sanctions against it.
Russia now in favor of blockchain and cryptocurrencies
According to the Russian president, it is abnormal that some countries can jointly sanction another, and it is crucial that an international system impervious to such sanctions is put in place:
“The current system of international payments is expensive, the system of its corresponding accounts and regulations are controlled by a narrow club of states and financial groups.”
Thus, Russia continues its statements and actions in favor of the use of blockchain technology, or even cryptocurrencies as has recently been the case. Indeed, as we reported, the Russian State Duma is currently working on the development of a nationwide cryptocurrency exchange through a regulatory framework defined in agreement with the Central Bank of the country.
Moscow is also working on the definition of a project to legalize the activity of cryptocurrency mining on the Russian territory and the sale of the latter. In this regard, Vladimir Putin had also stated in January that Russia “has a competitive advantage in cryptocurrency mining.”
